Suzanne of the Lakes Meet

A Poem of Introduction

Written on 6 February 1989

Here comes Suzanne sweet

From the land where the great lakes meet

And is known for the snow and sleet.

From her native Canadian cold

To venture to the burning tropics, she is bold,

And the ways of the Old World to behold.

She would have been years ago,

Leaving her beloved land sadly, though,

If not for her hubby’s woe.

In her you see the best of women of this country –

Loving, loyal, industrious, and thinking free –

Of old Pennsylvania Dutch ancestry.

When many would have gone the easy way,

She stood by me without sway,

As our world once in shambles lay.

A believer among the People of the Book,

Her timely assistance like Waraqah ibn Naufal’s in our Book,

Did help a man that the world forsook.

The traits that are best but hidden in me,

She brought out for all to see,

For which I should thankful be.

She is a woman with a heart of gold,

Who never lets one be in the cold –

Lavish in generosity and kind as the gentle Ruth of old.

With her smile and happy laughter, all she would win,

And I’m happy that she is now with our kith and kin,

To receive in return the gratitude in my heart within.

Author’s Annotation: Suzanne was a believing Christian. The "People of the Book" is a koranic term for those who believe in the Gospel and the Torah. In the poem, Abdul Rasheed was likening his wife to Waraqah son of Naufal, a Christian monk who was a kinsman of Khadija daughter of Khuwailad, wife of the Mohamed. Waraqah came to the rescue of Mohamed when his idolatrous fellow countrymen persecuted him for preaching the creed of Abraham. This is a poem of many, interesting meanings indeed.